The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin (Books of Unexpected Enlightenment Book 1) by L. Jagi Lamplighter

consisted of sorcerers evading persecution. They used their magic to uproot their new home. When the next ship arrived from England, the floating island of Roanoke had vanished.
    “Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America, grew up to be a powerful Enchantress. She founded a school on Roanoke. For more than three centuries, the island floated around the oceans of the world, visiting many nations, picking up additional teachers—which is why Roanoke is the only school where all seven of the Sorcerous Arts are taught. Roanoke continued to float until the early twentieth century, when it ran aground against Pollepel Island in the Hudson River. It remains here today.
    “Or, for another example, the Unwary know that during World War II, Hitler committed genocide against the Gypsy race—all thirteen tribes, including the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Reuben, the Romani tribe, etc.—declaring the Gypsies to be the cause of Germany’s ills and forcing them into concentration camps—in the travesty against humanity we call the Holocaust. The Wise know that his fear of the powerful Gypsy sorcerers, such as Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein, contributed to his paranoia.”
    “Einstein was a sorcerer?” Brunhilda asked incredulously.
    “Of course,” Mr. Gideon replied smoothly. “You don’t think the mundane scientists would have been able to invent the nuclear bomb without the help of Gypsy sorcery, do you?”
    Siggy put up his hand. “Sir? How do we know?”
    Professor Gideon looked at him coolly. Evidently he had heard of the famous boy, but he had not taken a liking to him. “How do we know what, Mr. Smith? It has been found, by many repeated experiments, that articulating a complete idea is an aid to communication. Assuming that is your purpose?”
    Siggy was undaunted. “How do we know this is true history?”
    Professor Gideon’s cool look hardened into coldness. “Some of what you will learn is based on the records of the Wise. For more recent history, some of your elders are old enough to recollect the events. We do keep track of what we have changed, young man.”
    “But the Unhairy have records and eyewitnesses too, right?” asked Sigfried. “We meddle with them, so they don’t know the truth, and can’t know it. Well…? How do we know someone is not doing that to us? People who stand to the Wise as the Wise stand to the Unscary? The Wiser-Than-Us? The Unfairy don’t know about us. What do we not know?”
    Rachel’s eyebrows quirked. He could not be getting Unwary wrong so many different ways by mistake. He must be doing it on purpose.
    The professor snorted. “In your case, Mr. Smith, a very great deal.” He waited for the snickering to die down, a small smile on his lips. “But it might be better to learn what the real history is, before we engage in denigrating it. The first semester will cover the antiquities, from the earliest roots of civilization in Egypt and China and Atlantis, keeping in mind that our records of those days are more complete and stretch back considerably farther than what mundane archeologists have unearthed. Now, who can tell me at what point in prehistory the Wise diverge from the Unwary?”
    “With the discovery that it actually rained if a shaman descended from immortals performed the rain dances?” asked Zoë Forrest, the world-weary-looking girl with a New Zealand accent, black lipstick, and dark green hair. She wore it short, except for one long lock in front, into which she had braided a feather.
    Zoë sat sideways, slumped against one chair with her legs resting on a second one. A funny-looking marsupial sat on her shoulder, eyeing everyone suspiciously. It had a nose like a squirrel only longer, a thick tail, and white spots all over its orangey fur. Rachel searched the encyclopedias in her memory and discovered it was a tiger quoll from Tasmania.
    “Very good, Miss Forrest. That is, in fact, one of the divergence points.”
Astrid raised her hand